Texas Beats West Virginia 47-40 In Overtime

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Case McCoy threw a 2-yard touchdown pass in overtime and Texas linebacker Steve Edmond then intercepted West Virginia’s Paul Millard in the end zone on fourth down to give the Longhorns a 47-40 win over the Mountaineers on Saturday night.

Texas (7-2, 6-0 Big 12) maintained sole possession of first place in the conference over No. 5 Baylor.

Charles Sims ran for 96 yards and three touchdowns for West Virginia (4-6, 2-5). The Mountaineers must now win both of their remaining games at Kansas and at home against Iowa State to become bowl eligible.

It marked the second-straight shootout involving the teams. West Virginia won last year 48-45 in Austin, Texas.

McCoy threw three TD passes after halftime, including the short toss to fullback Alex De La Torre on the Longhorns’ overtime possession. It was the sophomore’s first catch of the season.

Mario Alford then ran 20 yards on West Virginia’s first play of overtime, but Millard, playing in place of the injured Clint Trickett, threw two straight incompletions before his soft pass ended up in Edmond’s hands.

McCoy finished 27 of 49 for a season-high 283 yards. His 10-yard TD toss to Jackson Shipley put the Longhorns ahead 37-33 with 8:57 remaining in the game.

On third-and-7, Millard found Alford across the middle near midfield and Alford went the rest of the way untouched with 7:39 left for the Mountaineers’ longest TD pass of the season. It also was Alford’s first TD catch of the season.

The Longhorns sent the game into overtime tied at 40-40 on Anthony Fera’s fourth field goal of the game, a 24-yarder with 13 seconds left in regulation.

Millard completed 16 of 32 passes for 259 yards. But Millard and Trickett were sacked six times and the Mountaineers had five turnovers. Trickett was sacked and left the game with an undisclosed injury late in the first quarter and didn’t return.

West Virginia struggled to move the ball much of the game, but the Mountaineers looked impressive on a 91-yard drive capped by Sims’ 1-yard run for a 26-16 lead midway through the third quarter.

McCoy then found Mike Davis for a 49-yard TD pass, and the pair combined on a 29-yard pass on Texas’ next drive to help set up Joe Bergeron’s 8-yard scoring run to put the Longhorns ahead 30-26 entering the fourth quarter.

A facemask penalty on the ensuing kickoff gave West Virginia the ball near midfield, and Dreamius Smith capped the short drive with an 8-yard TD run.

Darwin Cook intercepted McCoy on Texas’ next possession, but West Virginia’s K.J. Dillon was called for holding on the play to keep the Longhorns’ drive alive. On third down, McCoy found Shipley on a 36-yard pass play and the pair later combined on the 10-yard TD pass, also on third down, with 8:57 left.

After West Virginia retook the lead, Texas was forced to punt but got the ball back again with 2:35 left at its 36. McCoy found Shipley with a 9-yard pass on fourth down to the West Virginia 38 with 52 seconds left. Malcolm Brown then ran 27 yards around right end to set up Fera’s tying field goal.

Texas converted 9 of 14 times on third down after halftime after going 1 of 9 in the first half.

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